Justice News

Fourth Brooklyn Resident Charged With Attempt And Conspiracy To Provide Material Support To ISIL

Defendant Allegedly Is Part Of ISIL Foreign Fighter Local Support Network; Travelled To Kennedy Airport On February 25 To Provide Cash To Co-Defendant Shortly Before Co-Defendant Was Arrested Attempting To Board Flight To Turkey To Join ISIL

Earlier today, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn returned a superseding indictment charging Dilkhayot Kasimov, a Brooklyn resident, with attempt and conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a foreign terrorist organization. The defendant, who is charged with three other Brooklyn residents whose arrests were first announced on February 25, 2015, is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 2 p.m. before United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.

The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Diego G. Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office; William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD); and Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York.

As alleged in the superseding indictment and other court filings, the investigation began last year when Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, one of Kasimov’s co-defendants, came to the attention of law enforcement after posting on an Uzbek-language website that propagates ISIL’s ideology. The investigation subsequently revealed that Juraboev and another co-defendant, Akhror Saidakhmetov, planned to travel to Turkey and then onward to Syria for the purpose of waging violent jihad on behalf of ISIL. Saidakhmetov was arrested on February 25, 2015, at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey. Juraboev had previously purchased a plane ticket to travel from New York to Istanbul and had been scheduled to leave the United States in March 2015.

Working closely with co-defendant Abror Habibov, Kasimov allegedly helped fund Saidakhmetov’s efforts to join ISIL. Kasimov and Habibov collected over $1,600 from multiple individuals for Saidakhmetov to use in Syria. Kasimov thereafter delivered the money to Saidakhmetov at Kennedy Airport shortly before Saidakhmetov was apprehended trying to board his flight in February. Additional investigation uncovered electronic messages in which Kasimov encouraged others to participate in violent jihad and made clear his role in facilitating the travel of foreign fighters to Syria.

“This defendant is the fourth Brooklyn resident charged as part of the same network of individuals who are alleged to have conspired and attempted to provide material support to ISIL,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Terrorist support networks like the one this defendant was involved in offer critical funding, travel logistics, and encouragement to persons seeking to join ISIL and other foreign terrorist organizations. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to stem the flow of foreign fighters to Syria and to disrupt and dismantle the networks, here and abroad, that support them.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which comprises a large number of federal, state, and local agencies from the region.

“Dilkhayot Kasimov allegedly attempted and conspired with others to provide material support to ISIL,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “The National Security Division remains committed to holding accountable all who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations. I would like to thank all of the agents, analysts and prosecutors who are responsible for this case.”

“Kasimov served as a money man in support of a co-defendant’s efforts to join ISIL,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Rodriguez. “He provided encouragement and facilitated travel for foreign fighters. As the recent series of cases indicate, we will pursue every lead and every person who succumbs to this radical agenda. It is my hope that these cases deter others from sharing Kasimov’s fate: being under arrest and in trouble with the law.”

“Money is the oxygen that fuels terrorism. This investigation proves again that we will leave no stone unturned to disrupt the finance, support, or membership in terrorist organizations like ISIL,” said NYPD Commissioner Bratton.

“These arrests are the culmination of an extensive joint law enforcement effort to disrupt the recruitment of alleged terrorist sympathizers,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge, HSI New York. "ICE-HSI will continue to use its unique immigration and customs authorities to assist our domestic and international law enforcement partners to stop jihadists from supporting terrorist organizations such as ISIL.”

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The charges in the superseding indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon, Douglas M. Pravda, and Peter W. Baldwin are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Danya Atiyeh of the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section.